Aurora Watch

Current Aurora Activity

The map above shows the current position and extent of the auroral oval — a more or less permanent feature centred over our planet’s magnetic poles. The data used to generate this graphic are from measurements taken during the most recent polar pass of the NOAA POES satellite.

The strength of the aurora (also known as the Northern Lights) is indicated by the colours shown in the scale on the bottom of the diagram, with red being most intense and dark-green least. Generally, if red appears over your geographic location, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to see some auroral activity if your skies are dark and clear.

Another excellent resource for aurora watchers is Natural Resource Canada’s Space Weather forecast page. Select your region and you’ll find a bar-graph displaying the current level of activity and forecasts covering the next three and six hours.

If you see an aurora, tweet @SkyNewsMagazine or e-mail us and tell us about it.

So far this year, more auroras have danced in Canadian skies than at any time since 2004, and more are expected in the coming months. Courtesy Alan Dyer

Aurora Photography: Terence Dickinson’s Tips

Today’s digital cameras make capturing the aurora easy. In particular, if you own a DSLR (a digital single-lens reflex) camera, you can clearly catch subtle auroral curtains that are barely perceptible to human vision.

Use your widest-angle lens at its lowest f-stop (typically between f/2.8 and f/3.5), and set the ISO to 800 or 1600 and the exposure to between 10 and 25 seconds. You’ll need a camera tripod to keep the camera steady during the exposure and a location away from light pollution. Yes, the last factor — escaping light pollution — is often the hardest one. But a fine aurora portrait is easier to capture than ever before.

Non-DSLR cameras, usually called compact digital cameras, are less capable of taking aurora shots, but are worth trying if tripod-mounted. Check the user’s guidebook to see whether you can set the compact camera to a manual mode that allows up to a 15-second exposure around f/3.5, a setting that should record an aurora.

Good luck — and if you manage to get a nice photo, please send it to us so we can share it with our readers.